Flowers, Gifts, Home Decor & more WHEATLEY
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Covering the Heights, Garden Oaks, Oak Forest & the neighborhoods of North Houston 85 DACOMA
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Saturday, January 24, 2015 • Vol. 60 • No. 12
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Super Bowl, Super Issues Connecting Routes 20-33-36-40-58-70-71-72 0-33-36-40-58-708-70-71-72 85-131-214-216-217-219 5-131-214-216-2 16-217-219 228-298
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Routes Co Rou utes 50 Harrisburg/Heights Route Map / Mapa deConnecting la 11-30-52-60-77 11 ruta 11-30-52-60 2-60-77 0-77
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23 23 Contributed Photos Recent changes to two METRO bus routes servicing The Leader area are causing headaches for those making their daily commutes into W 20TH 66 downtown Houston. (Above) 40 D 7 The #40 Pecore/Telephone W 19TH 26 been rerouted via route has 27 W 14TH Bagby, to Dallas, Smith, Clay and La Branch eastbound and via Bell, to Louisiana, Lamar and Bagby westbound.PECORE (Left) 40 The #50 Harrisburg/Heights AYLAND BAYLAND B route has been rerouted via Bagby to Texas eastbound and via Capitol westbound. 34 Offficals say both changes are due to the closure of DalE las Streets for construction, 8 36being much of which done85 WASH WA Sis HING NGTO TON to help prepare the city’s infrastructure for the Super Bowl in 2017.MEMORIAL Residents now fear they may be unable to use the METRO service, meaning more hours in traffic and more congestion for those who don’t. NAVI LE YALE
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By Jonathan Garris jgarris@theleadernews.com
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As the public comment period for the Federal Railway AdminisPoint schedule. wn on environmental schedule. Time points Po int where time is shown shotration’s impact study for the proposed Texas Central S IGG references to estimate whenthis themonth, bus erences bus numerous public officials have can be used as ref Railway came to a close GR arrive will arr ive at your your stop. stop. stepped forward with one unifying message from their constituents – the proposed high-speed rail route is not welcome. Puntos marcados en el horario. horario. Con estos puntos se Houston City Council Member Ellen Cohen submitted a letter a directly hora de llegada autobús a Administration earlier this month, puede calcular la hor to thedel Federal Railroad parada. su par ada. HOBBY AIRPOR AIRPORT T proposed voicing her direct opposition to the routes for the TCR. She cited both the feelings Northbrook rthbrook Shopping Center A No of her constituents in regards to issues like 4 property values and other challenges that face B Oak Forest Station Post Office PAR those living closest to the BNSF railway. Northwest rthwest Community “Since learning of this project over the past 16 C No Health Centerphoto Contributed few months, my constituents in these neighJane Kelly may have traded in her lawn mower after years of mowing, butSelect the localSpecialty 95-year- Hospital borhoods have shared with me their over– D old Heights resident hasn’t let age slow her down at all. BELL Houston Heights whelming opposition to theParking currently proposed Cents citing concerns over the potential for Center E West End Multi-Serviceroutes, decreased property values, blighted neighborF Minute Maid Park Cohen hood aesthetics, noise, vibrations, safety15and G Eastwood Park others,” Cohen states in the letter. Cohen goes on to emphasize that she supports high-speed rail as H Magnolia Multi-Service Center AIR “an important mass transit option” which will help addressing growWhile she admits many things have By Kim Hogstrom I Community Family Center ing population, traffic, pollution and other long term problems. changed since her birth, one thing remains For The Leader Connecting Routes / HOBBY “However, I oppose the currently proposed routes for this project the same: Mrs. Kelly still loves Houston’s HOBBY TRAN Connec Conexión Rutas de Cone xión due to their close proximity to deed-restricted residential neighborAt 95 years old, age hasn’t slowed Jane Heights. hoods,” Cohen states. “Oh,yes, I do love the Heights, but it has Kelly down one bit and, if anything, the Cohen’s letter joins a growing number of elected officials who long-time Heights resident is finding more changed,” Kelly said with a laugh. “It has stand in opposition to the proposed TCR routes into downtown simply outgrown itself. That’s all there is to and more to love about her neighborhood. Houston. Charles Schwertner, Senate District 5, Brian Birdwall, SenKelly has lived through countless bits of it.” ate Distrct 22 and Lois Kolkhorst, Senate District 18, also submitted Kelly was born in 1920 in Skidmore, TX, Houston history throughout the years, and a joint letter to the FRA in opposition earlier this month. by the name of Jane Quinn. Shortly after her she pre-dates the first air-conditioned space The letter states bluntly that the TCR “would only serve as a detriin Houston – the Rice Hotel cafeteria – by birth, Kelly’s family moved to the Heights ment to the affected counties” the officials represent. While they actwo years, the first Houston Livestock Show where she has lived ever since, raising three knowledge the high-speed rail would provide a small amount of jobs by 12 years and and the construction of sons and operating a business with her husduring the construction phase, Schwertner, Birdwall and Kolkhorst Houston’s City Hall by 17 years. During the band, James R. Quinn’s Lumber Company, state that any long-term costs far outweigh the temporary benefit. same decade, George Hermann donated a for many years prior to his death in 1993. “This project holds real consequences for our constituents, their The couple also wisely purchased rental parcel of land that would became Hermann property and their livelihoods,” the letter states. “Private property properties in the Heights, many of which rePark, the Houston Library System was interests wll be taken through eminent domain as TCR attempts to launched, and the Houston Zoo opened its main in Kelly’s possession today. construct a rail line that will permanently cut through our counties. “We never paid more than $7,000 for any gates. Houston Junior College was founded in 1927, destined to become University of one of them,” Kelly said. “A few years ago, See Rail, P. 8A Houston, and in 1929, Houston’s very first See Heights, P. 4A Sears sold its very first tool.
$1 million dollar homes are becoming a reality in our area but with oil prices falling, could that high-end demand change?
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Leader Live takes a look at The Suffers latest E.P release and what they have planned for 2015.
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Cohen, other officials voice concerns over high-speed rail routes 42
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Mary Trujillo has faithfully boarded a Metro bus every work morning and afternoon for more than a decade. She appreciates the consistency of the buses and their drivers. Or, at least, that used to be the case. “The No. 40 bus and No. 50 buses are usually reliable, especially if a dependable driver is on your route,” said Trujillo, who lives in the Heights. “I have a wonderful driver in the mornings on the 50 route at 6:55 a.m., but the mornings without a regular bus driver can be very unreliable. And now that more construction is starting downtown, the buses have become more unreliable.” Mayank Malik, a Chevron employee and Heights resident, has noticed the same thing on Metro’s No. 40 and No. 50 routes. “Personally, I have to walk a long way to make it to my stop now which is especially troublesome in bad weather,” Malik said, pointing out the string of cold, rainy weather the area saw for weeks. “Route 50 is already inconvenient for folks like myself and this is a problem faced by several people I know as well.”
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